“We’ve been working for months now, but a lot has come together in the time since we officially unveiled our plans for the launch of FOX Sports 1 in March,” said Eric Shanks, FOX Sports’ co-president and COO. “The programming schedule has been solidified, and we really come out of the gate incredibly strong from Day 1.”

FS1 officially launches at 8:00 a.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 17, and includes 18 hours of original programming on the first day, 16.5 hours of which are live.

The first half of the day features NASCAR content, but then goes head-first into several hours of UFC programming.

UFC Ultimate Insider launches the UFC on FS1 at 3:30 p.m. ET, triggering a marathon of coverage. UFC Unleashed and UFC Tonight follow, leading up to the first live UFC fight event on FS1, which includes two hours of preliminary bout coverage and a three-hour main card.

FS1 moves past the launch with a generous amount of original programming, but it’s clear from the start that UFC programming is going to be a staple on the network, particularly on Wednesday nights.

Live MMA returns to FS1 on Aug. 28 with a FOX UFC Wednesday Live event and prelims scheduled from 8:00-11:00 p.m. ET.

FS1’s third live UFC event comes Wednesday, Sept. 4, with two hours of live fight coverage preceding the season premiere of The Ultimate Fighter (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET).

As previously announced, The Ultimate Fighter moves to its new Wednesday 10:00 p.m. home that night, where it anchors the network’s Wednesday prime time UFC block. The coming season features UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and challenger Cat Zingano as coaches.